Turnquest not concerned about poll

Turnquest not concerned about poll
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, K. Peter Turnquest.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest Thursday dismissed a recent poll conducted by Public Domain, which pointed to a drastic decline in voter satisfaction since the Minnis-led administration first took office in May 2017.

“I’m not so concerned about some parted ratings,” Turnquest said.

“Those are not going to drive the things that we do and why we do what we do.”

The figures, released Wednesday, indicate a satisfaction rate of 44 per cent for the Free National Movement (FNM) government – a decline of 18 per cent.

Turnquest however, reasoned that the government only took office 11 months ago and that it was “unreasonable” to expect the administration would be able to turn things around in that period of time.

“Well I think its apples and oranges,” he rationalized.

“There are a number of things that are going on the local political scene that effects ratings for any period from time to time.”

The poll pointed to a number of factors affecting the government’s drop-in ratings. Since the 2017 general election, there was also a decline of those who believed that the country was headed in the right direction, from 67 to 40 percent.

“You can’t change the world in a day, it doesn’t happen that way,” he said.

“We have been very busy, we are restoring the reputation of The Bahamas and been very busy trying to put our house in order.”

Turnquest reasoned that in time, the Bahamian people will be able to reap the benefits of their labour, as they prepare for a new fiscal budget.

“We will have an opportunity to present our plan for the upcoming year which will set the stage for the future. We have a very viable and sustainable financial centre and we intend to promote good and best practices and strengthen our promotion of the financial services sector,” he said.

Despite the decrease in ratings, Turnquest said the government is committed to ensuring that The Bahamas retains its economic position and grow in areas that we have been unable to take advantage of.

About Genea Noel

Genea Noel is the news director and weeknight TV news anchor at Eyewitness News. She began working at Eyewitness News in 2018 as the newsroom editor and was subsequently promoted during her tenure. As a household name who graces the screens of thousands of Bahamian homes each night, Genea has racked up an impressive five Bahamas Press Club awards, including “The Cyril Stevenson Award for Outstanding Political Journalism” (2020), “Best Studio Live Producer” (2020) and “Best Newscast” (2018).